Cognitive overload can cause overwhelm in those with ADHD . Here’s how to recognise the symptoms of ADHD paralysis and ways to manage it What is ADHD paralysis? While it’s not a medical diagnosis, nor the physical paralysis we associate with the term, people with ADHD increasingly use paralysis to describe the very real experience of cognitive overload. It’s the brain freeze that happens when they become completely stuck, unable to make a choice, complete a task, or do anything at all.
It comes from being overwhelmed, whether that’s by a to-do list, a complicated project, mood disorders or exhaustion, and the resulting ‘paralysis’ can make their symptoms even worse. “I’ve seen somebody I know with ADHD standing in the garden like a statue for ages, unable to go to work. Their brain is thinking through all the different choices and possibilities and consequences of a certain action, and because of that they’re just not starting what they need to do,” says Dr Helen Read, a consultant psychiatrist who worked in the NHS in the United Kingdom and now runs a private practice, The ADHD Consultancy.
Yet with treatment and behavioural strategies, it’s possible to overcome ADHD paralysis. Read on for everything you need to know. What is ADHD paralysis? ADHD paralysis is when people with the disorder feel frozen and unable to act.
“They know they should do something, but they can’t garner the motivation to do it, even though they know there is going to be a con.
